Playwright vs. Selenium Comparison

Playwright vs. Selenium Comparison

Feature	Selenium	Playwright
Developed by	ThoughtWorks (Selenium Project)	Microsoft
First Released	2004	2020
Language Support	Java, C#, Python, Ruby, JavaScript (Node.js)	JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, C#, Java
Browsers Supported	Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, Edge	Chromium (Chrome, Edge), Firefox, WebKit (Safari)
Cross-Browser Testing	Yes	Yes
Grid Support	Yes (Selenium Grid)	Limited (Parallel contexts within single browser)
Headless Mode	Yes	Yes
Advanced Interactions	Basic support	Advanced support (network traffic, auth, etc.)
Auto-Waiting	No (requires explicit waits)	Yes
Browser Contexts	No	Yes
Setup	Requires separate WebDriver binaries	Includes browsers out of the box
Syntax	Straightforward, more boilerplate	Cleaner, more concise
Execution Speed	Generally slower due to WebDriver communication	Faster with optimized control
Reliability	Can be flaky, requires explicit waits	More reliable with auto-waiting
Community	Large and active	Growing rapidly
Support	Extensive resources, forums, third-party integrations	Comprehensive documentation, active community
Best For	Extensive cross-browser testing, legacy systems	Modern web apps, robust and reliable testing

Locator Comparison: Playwright vs. Selenium

Locator Type	Selenium	Playwright
ID	By.id("elementID")	page.locator('id=elementID')
Class Name	By.className("className")	page.locator('.className')
Name	By.name("name")	page.locator('name=name')
CSS Selector	By.cssSelector("cssSelector")	page.locator('css=cssSelector')
XPath	By.xpath("xpathExpression")	page.locator('xpath=xpathExpression')
Text	By.xpath("//*[text()='text']")	page.locator('text=text')
Link Text	By.linkText("linkText")	page.locator('text=linkText')
Partial Link Text	By.partialLinkText("partialLinkText")	Not directly supported. Can be achieved with XPath.
Tag Name	By.tagName("tagName")	page.locator('tagName=tagName')

Method Comparison: Playwright vs. Selenium

Method	Selenium	Playwright
Launch Browser	WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();	const browser = await playwright.chromium.launch();
Close Browser	driver.quit();	browser.close();
Navigate to URL	driver.get("https://example.com");	page.goto("https://example.com");
Find Element	WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.xxx(""));	const element = await page.locator('xxx=selector').first();
Find Elements	List elements = driver.findElements(By.xxx(""));	const elements = await page.locator('xxx=selector').elements();
Click Element	element.click();	await element.click();
Type Text	element.sendKeys("text");	await element.type("text");
Clear Text	element.clear();	await element.clear();
Get Text	String text = element.getText();	const text = await element.innerText();
Get Attribute	String attribute = element.getAttribute("attributeName");	const attribute = await element.getAttribute("attributeName");
Wait for Element	WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, 10); wait.until(ExpectedConditions.visibilityOfElementLocated(By.xxx("")));	await page.waitForSelector('xxx=selector');
Wait for Text	WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, 10); wait.until(ExpectedConditions.textToBePresentInElement(element, "text"));	Not directly supported. Can be implemented using custom functions.
Scroll to Element	JavascriptExecutor js = (JavascriptExecutor) driver; js.executeScript("arguments[0].scrollIntoView(true);", element);	await element.scrollIntoViewIfNeeded();
Execute Script	JavascriptExecutor js = (JavascriptExecutor) driver; js.executeScript("javascript code");	await page.evaluate("javascript code");
Switch to Frame	driver.switchTo().frame("frameName");	const frame = await page.frame({ name: 'frameName' });
Switch to Default Content	driver.switchTo().defaultContent();	await page.mainFrame();
Switch to Window	String mainWindow = driver.getWindowHandle(); driver.switchTo().window(windowHandle);	const pages = await browser.pages(); const newPage = pages.find(page => page.url() === 'targetURL'); await newPage.bringToFront();
Accept Alert	driver.switchTo().alert().accept();	await page.waitForTimeout(1000); await page.keyboard.press('Enter');
Dismiss Alert	driver.switchTo().alert().dismiss();	await page.waitForTimeout(1000); await page.keyboard.press('Escape');
Get Alert Text	String alertText = driver.switchTo().alert().getText();	Not directly supported. Can be implemented using custom functions.
Set Alert Text	driver.switchTo().alert().sendKeys("text");	Not directly supported. Can be implemented using custom functions.